


ADKC Lore

by thatoneinsecurenerd



Series: A different kind of chemistry [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Animal Death, Animal Murder, Blood, Blood Drinking, Child Abandonment, Gen, Magic, Magic Curses, Puberty, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Swearing, Vampires, undertones of discrimination
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:40:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29536260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatoneinsecurenerd/pseuds/thatoneinsecurenerd
Summary: The lore/world-building for myA Different Kind of Chemistryuniverse
Relationships: Deceit | Janus Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Series: A different kind of chemistry [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023423
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	1. Magic folk and Vampire Lore

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the Hex Hall book series and the Greek myth of Selene, Goddess of the Moon and Mother of Vampires
> 
> This first chapter is pure lore. None of the characters are mentioned at all. You don't need the context of the main story to read this first chapter, but you will for the next one, so you should read it.
> 
>  **Warnings:** blood, swearing, undertones of discrimination, animal murder, alcohol mention, mentioned child abandonment

Magic folk born to magic parents were exposed to magic from a very young age. A tired mother might use magic to make washing the dishes a little easier, conjuring a sponge that would do the scrubbing, so long as she left the water running. A child would begin to learn the very basics of magic. First and foremost, what everything was. Such as the wand sometimes given to the child to help them to, at first, better channel their magic – at the same time they learned to read and write their first language. 

A magic child would learn magic alongside arithmetic and science. They’d attend non-magic school and receive magic lessons at home. 

They’d learn that the existence of their magic was to be kept a secret. They may be given a special kind of tea to sip over the course of the day to keep their magic at bay, until they learned to have enough control over their magic to keep it inactive until needed. The only exception to such control was, of course, instances of lower inhibition, such as drunkenness or the expression of extreme emotions (which could be related to alcohol). 

A magic child born to a non-magic family typically followed one of three paths. One, the child is abandoned. Put up for adoption or simply cast out of the house as soon as evidence of their magic is shown (frightening the parents), which typically occurs at an extremely young age. After all, babies experience many extreme emotions, having needs they cannot meet themselves and caretakers that can’t always understand the meanings of their cries. And so, things may shake, fall, shatter... Frightening to people who have never been exposed to such a thing. 

Two, raised without knowledge of their abilities. Raised on calming tea brewed by a magic user. For when the child had shown their first displays of magic, the parents hadn’t been overly freaked out. Understandably freaked out, certainly, but they’d sought out and found a solution. Even if they had to give up some of their blood and keep a secret until they took their dying breath, it was a better alternative. 

Lastly, magic school. A place that taught concepts needed to survive and thrive in the non-magic world, but also those needed to thrive as a magic user. A place as private as a boarding school – functioned exactly like one, actually – and as shrouded in secrets as a cult in a tiny, no-name town. 

Typically, this option was chosen by people who had knowledge of the world of magic. People who maybe had no magic themselves – such as a child born to a half magic family whose magic simply remained dormant, never activated – but knew what to expect when it came to raising a child with magic. It was just better to have someone qualified to teach a child how to use their magic, when, with no magic, you weren’t often invited to sit in on the magic lessons. 

Magic parents with non-magic _and_ magic children didn’t often see the merit in having the non-magic child sit in on magic lessons. After all, the belief was that non-magic folk couldn’t do magic. Not without fancy ceremony and magical enhancements provided by an actual magic user. 

But with a high enough magic blood percentage – say, 50% - magic was possible. Magic still coursed through the person’s veins, but it was inactive. It was simply like the water in blood, carrying the nutrients along. 

But it _could_ be activated. Not to the full extent of power as the magic of a magic user, but the person could perform the simplest of spells. Too complex, and they may find themselves passing out from weakness. 

And so, a non-magic child could easily train alongside a magic child up to a point. From there, the non-magic child could learn about obscure magic lore, such as the piece of lore that said that they could still activate the magic in their blood. 

Magical blood percentage meant magic was in the blood, whether or not the magic was activated. Like a recessive gene on a chromosome, if biology metaphors are your thing. 

*** 

Vampires were – and perhaps this sounds cruel – either born or made. There was no difference between the two, other than the circumstances of their vampirism. 

The first vampire was, as Greek mythology tells it (and this is what magic scholars believe. Influenced by the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who had magic works to his name unknown to the non-magic folk), an Italian adventurer named Ambrogio, who had made deals with gods Artemis and Hades and had angered both Artemis and her brother, Apollo, in the name of his love to a maiden of the Oracle, Selene, now known as the moon goddess and the mother of vampires. For when her blood mixed with Ambrogio’s, the first vampires were officially created. 

Like with magic blood, vampire blood could be passed through families. Vampire blood could lie dormant, even at fifty percent, but unlike magic blood, it could not be activated. 

Magic folk don’t, personally, know much about vampire lore, for magic folk tend to want to stay out of their way. No one knows what happens to a magic user turned by a vampire. There’s the belief that those who had didn’t live to tell the tale. But perhaps they were just ashamed to return to their people and admit what happened, instead opting to stay with the vampire coven/community, who could better understand the hunger curling in their belly that only blood would satisfy, without viewing them as a monster or a disgrace to society. 

Magic folk couldn't tell you that vampires lived similarly to non-magic folk, with the aid of enchantments. Enchantments such as those on a pair of sunglasses that could one, hide the vampire’s blood-red eyes, and two, prevent their skin from breaking out in hives upon exposure to the sun. Enchantments perhaps provided by a magic user long ago or one more recently made by a magic-folk friend. 

Raising animals or adopting animals from a shelter only to snap their neck despite the many years they may have had left to live to gather up the blood for storage and later drinking. Or perhaps befriending a human or magic user who would willingly give up a little bit of their blood every couple of days. 

Learning to live in a way that didn't tip any non-magic folk off. Insisting they had a life-threatening allergy to garlic, which was basically the truth. Insisting that their red eyes were from irritation to the sun – because they “had an allergy to that, too, just a minor one. And no, they weren't a vampire. Could a vampire do this?” After which, they pull out a faux-silver cross they always carry on their person, because silver could burn their skin, yes, but faux-silver would not. Nor did “the power of Christ compel" them and all that demonic possession jazz. Because vampires weren't demons. 

As for made vampires, the term used by the community is “turned.” _Turned_ into a vampire by the venom from a vampire’s blood. Which raises the question, surely, “Then where did the media portrayal of a vampire biting a person's neck come from?” 

It is the common method of turning a vampire. If the vampire happened to seduce the other person, kisses could be exchanged, and the vampire’s lip could easily be bitten hard enough to draw blood. And if the vampire bit down a little deeper, let their blood coat their fangs, and sunk those bloody fangs deep into the soft, salty skin of the person's neck... Blood mixes with tainted blood. And once something is tainted, it courses through the bloodstream. 

The changes begin slowly. It's almost subtle. After all, vampires don't instantly catch on fire when they step into the sun, and garlic doesn't burn a hole through their throat when consumed. 

It's easier when the vampire stays to guide the person along. But many don't. And so, they have to find a coven that will take them in and teach them the things they would never have had the chance to learn growing up. 

It's not usually the turned vampires who turn other vampires. 

And it's a commonly-known vampire fact that magic blood tainted with alcohol tastes sweetest. More potent with magic perhaps. 

But magic folk don't know all that. 


	2. A little more lore + Janus's curse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** puberty mention, swearing

As mentioned before, a person’s magic is more out of control when they are more emotional. When one is a baby, their emotions are high, because there is so much going on around them that they are unfamiliar with. But there’s a second time in a human’s life that emotions are at a high: puberty. 

But with control over their magic, a pubescent teen isn’t going to shatter objects unknowingly. Instead, any magic is going to be subtle. They’ll have enough control over their magic because of their training that the magic produced by their emotions will only result in something small. 

For many, this means something as simple and small as their ears being noticeably pointier: easily tucked away beneath a beanie or a hoodie. For others, it means a little animal fuzz, instead of body hair, on patches of their skin. 

For Janus Mourier, it was the appearance of a forked tongue. This wasn’t as easily hidden away. And no matter what he or his family tried, they couldn’t make it disappear permanently. They learned to tuck it under magical glamours. 

Then, it was an itching of the left side of his face. His parents told him it was just acne, and they tried both magic and non-magic remedies to get the itching to go down, to lighten the red of that half of his face. But neither had an effect, and soon, the red side of his face was turning green. 

Not much later, the green turned to shimmering, green scales. And the scales, too, didn’t permanently go away. The scales, too, needed to be hidden under a glamour. 

And then, his magic seemed to weaken. Spells were much harder for him to cast during his training. Even the simplest ones that his non-gifted-with-magic twin could do without ceremony, Janus couldn’t do without feeling the weakness associated with him having no magic at all. 

It was only then that his parents came to the conclusion that these changes weren’t associated with their son’s puberty. That these changes wouldn’t go away when all that was said and done with. That, at some point, their thirteen-year-old son had been cursed. 

And soon enough was his first transformation to a full snake form. And damn, if that didn’t scare the hell out of all of them. 

The family had to quickly learn how to live with a snake under their roof. 

_What did snakes eat? How much did they have to feed it? Would their son turn back, or was he doomed to be a snake forever?_

Janus spent a couple weeks as a snake before his first reversion back to his human form. And he was just as relieved as his family that he was back. 

They all spent months poring over magic books and consulting experts on curses to figure out how they might continue to deal with the curse. Janus and Patton Mourier – unbeknownst to their parents – tried to take on the mystery of figuring out who could have done it. 

But there were many candidates. Janus wasn’t exactly the most well-liked person at their middle school. Some kids were terrified by his edgy aesthetic. Others were jealous of his intelligence: the fact that he was at the top of the class even though he didn't seem to give a damn about school. 

And there was no telling how many of the kids or teachers at their school had magic. It wasn’t something they went around broadcasting. Even if they didn’t have to worry about a repeat of the Witch Trials, they weren’t about to go broadcasting it. They _still_ had a bad rep in many pieces of media. They weren’t about to put themselves in danger. 

There was no way for Janus and Patton to know if the curse had been cast with or without ceremony. (Though a curse with ceremony would have required the caster to collect a piece of Janus’s DNA – a fingernail clipping, a thread of hair, etc. - to aim the curse at a specific target.) There was no way for them to know if someone had slipped a potion into Janus’s food or drink – and _didn’t_ that _open up the pool of targets even wider._

Janus just learned to live with his curse. He learned to live with the use of a magic wand for spells such as the glamour that concealed his tongue and face, because it was the only way he could perform such simple charms without feeling faint. He learned to live with a transformation approximately once a month, like he was some kind of were-snake. 

He learned to live with elongated incisors and a heightened sense of smell. He learned to live with the hiss that would escape his lips if he felt angry or threatened. 

He learned to live with the fact that his twin brother and parents were the only people he’d probably ever keep in his life ( _so what was the damage in pushing others away? As if anyone would dare get close to him with the edgy aesthetic he maintained_ ). 

He stopped treating it as some problem that needed to be fixed and instead as a part of his identity. He reframed his life to work around it. He used a glamour when he needed to go out in public. He used a glamour when he dealt with the customers in his shop, years after the curse had been inflicted upon him. He took classes online as soon as he was able. 

He wasn’t upfront about his curse, but he found people who learned about it and decided to stay, anyway. Because they didn’t mind that part of him. And they wanted to be around when he struggled with that part of him. 

And Merlin, if he didn’t love them for that. 

Merlin, if he didn’t love how Logan Aster took in his world with bright blue eyes and how Logan Aster stayed with him through all the ugly moments because he could see the goodness in Janus’s heart that had been pushed aside by the curse. 

And Merlin, if he didn’t love Logan Aster with his whole, cursed heart. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is all I have pre-written...

**Author's Note:**

> If I forgot to tag anything, please let me know and I'll do so asap!
> 
> I don't know how many chapters this will have yet. I only have one other one written, but I'll gladly try to write any requests if there's something specific about this universe you want to know. (Extra moments will have their own fic, which also only has two chapters pre-written and that I'll also take requests for - for things like moments referenced in the series or moments that take place after the series, since I won't be writing a full-fledged sequel.)


End file.
